Hydrogen-Bond-Enhanced Photoreforming of Biomass Furans over a Urea-Incorporated Cu(II) Porphyrin Framework.

Solar-driven upgrading of biomass-derived 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) holds great promise for sustainable production of bio-plastics and resins. However, the process is limited by poor selectivity and sluggish kinetics due to the vertical coordination of HMF at relatively strong metal sites. Here, we purposely developed a Cu(II) porphyrin framework featuring side-chain incorporated urea linkages, denoted as TBUPP-Cu MOF, to render HMF a weak hydrogen bond at the urea site and flat adsorption via π-π stacking with the benzene moiety.